Uninterested
by Dark Ice Dragon
Summary: Arctic Fox notices that Kenshin spends a lot of time with a white-haired mage. He isn't jealous. Really. ·Arctic Fox/Kenshin·
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**: Arctic Fox notices that Kenshin spends a lot of time with a white-haired mage. He isn't jealous. Really.

Contains Arctic Fox/Kenshin? One-sided Arctic Fox/Kenshin? Read it however you want to. :) Also has some Sunshine/Fairsky.

Set before chapter 50.

Written for the anon on my Prompt Post. :) Thanks for this!

Written before I'd read manhua chapter 55, in case that makes a difference.

Oh, *snerk* When first typing this up, I didn't have a title, so I just put in the shorthand of the pairing. What did it end up being? 'AFK' XDDDD

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><p><strong><strong><strong><strong>Uninterested<strong>******

By Dark Ice Dragon

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><p>Arctic Fox crouched on the roof, Bloodthirst ready in his grasp, waiting for Kenshin to pass by. He had seen a flash of Kenshin's distinctive red hair a few moments ago, but had lost sight of him when a team of dragon beasts wandered in front of him. Kenshin wasn't one to dither or change his mind once he had decided on something, so if he had been going in one direction the last time Arctic Fox had seen him, he would still be going in the same direction the next time Arctic Fox saw him. There was only one exception to this rule, and that was if-<p>

And that was if Prince or that white-haired mage was with him. This time, it was the white-haired mage. Arctic Fox could understand why Kenshin spent time with Prince (because of his job if nothing else), but for the mage, he wasn't so sure.

As he watched, the mage chatted at Kenshin, a smile on his face as he literally dragged him place to place. And Kenshin let him, like he always did. With any other player, Kenshin wouldn't have allowed it -even Prince- so who was the mage to Kenshin? Someone he knew in real life? Or...

Arctic Fox only realised he was frowning, his hand aching from the tight grip on Bloodthirst, when the mage left Kenshin's side, waving in goodbye. And got a nod in return.

The two never sparred, with either words or weapons, so what had the mage done for the acknowledgement of the best fighter Arctic Fox had ever met?

Breathing out slowly, Arctic Fox dismissed Bloodthirst. Fighting Kenshin while distracted would mean a certain loss.

But maybe he could spend the time tailing the mage instead, and see why exactly Kenshin willingly spent time with him...

xOx

There didn't seem to be a good reason. Not from what Arctic Fox could see anyway. He wasn't sure if the mage had any particular destination in mind, just wandering from one thing that caught his eye to another, even if that meant going around in a circle. Arctic Fox wasn't sure if the mage even realised it. He didn't visit any of the weapon or clothing shops nearby, or the book stores, so he wasn't trying to improve his fighting ability either.

All the mage did was talk. Talk with anyone in hearing distance, anyone willing to stop for a few minutes, and it didn't matter if the other person was a player or an NPC. The mage seemed to talk or ask about anything that came to mind: the weather, what the other person was holding or selling, what the other person was going to do for the day. It wasn't information gathering, but just wanting to interact with someone. Even when he was brushed off, the mage accepted it with an easy smile and moved on to the next person or followed the next thing that caught his interest.

Why was Kenshin friends (or more?) with him? They were the opposite from each other. But then, maybe that was why...? But no, Arctic Fox had seen other players more talkative than the mage who didn't get the same responsiveness when trying to interact with Kenshin.

Arctic Fox was about to give up for the day when there was a yell.

"Sunshine! _There_ you are!"

It made both he and the mage (and nearly everyone else in hearing distance) turn around at the call, but only Arctic Fox and the mage continued to look (and he only because the mage did). A woman came barrelling out of the crowd and ran straight for the mage, who was smiling broadly at her. Automatically, Arctic Fox catalogued her gear (leather and cloth for speed, also chosen to match each other) and her build (she was fast, helped by her gear, and she wasn't winded). He guessed she was either an assassin or a thief, leaning more towards the thief class, since stealth was not her strong point.

Arctic Fox's thoughts halted when the thief didn't stop and simply threw herself at Sunshine, the mage catching her (though he staggered back a few steps). And then they kissed. Passionately.

So, either Kenshin was part of a threesome, Sunshine was cheating on him, or...there was nothing between him and Sunshine, apart from friendship.

As Arctic Fox continued to watch as he tried to make sense of the situation, he saw the pair break apart and then hold hands, Fairsky tugging Sunshine in the direction that she had come from, the two barely a step away from each other as Sunshine ducked his head a little to talk with her, his smile soft and unlike any of the other smiles he had directed towards anyone else Arctic Fox had seen so far.

Sunshine hadn't acted like that with anyone else, including Kenshin.

Satisfied, Arctic Fox turned away and left the two alone.

xOx

Arctic Fox found Kenshin in one of the parks near where he had last seen him, gazing out across a pond, watching the fish that sometimes jumped out of it.

He had barely summoned Bloodthirst when Kenshin turned towards him, and Arctic Fox paused at his slightly raised eyebrow.

"Where have you been?"

Arctic Fox stared at him. "You noticed?"

Kenshin nodded, his other eyebrow raising saying, 'Of course.'

Huh. Maybe Kenshin wasn't as uninterested as he thought...

While he waited for Kenshin to unsheathe his katana (and for the other players to clear the area once they realised what was happening) Arctic Fox wondered if he should confess to Kenshin and ask him out, before someone else did before him.

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><p>For someone who's central to the plot of this fic, Kenshin really doesn't spend that much time in this. :P<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary**: Arctic Fox asks Kenshin out.

Contains Arctic Fox/Kenshin

Not canon-compliant, oops. Set after V4C11/chapter 38 but before V6C5/chapter 50.

Thanks to phireye for listening to me babble and brainstorming with me! XD;

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><p><strong><strong><strong><strong>Uninterested<strong>******

By Dark Ice Dragon

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><p>Arctic Fox hadn't been able to think while he sparred with Kenshin (they'd eventually moved to an area outside the city to avoid the growing crowd) but he couldn't normally think about anything else during that anyway – he had to put his full concentration on moving, attacking and defending. If he didn't, the spar ended a lot faster.<p>

Afterwards, Arctic Fox was sweating, out of breath, his heart thundering in his chest, but even though he'd lost like he usually did, he couldn't help but feel a bit of fierce pride at the fact he'd lasted longer against Kenshin this time. There had been a few times where he'd thought he'd been closer to slipping past Kenshin's guard, Kenshin giving ground slightly in places. He was getting better.

But now they were finished, Arctic Fox's mind wandered back to what he'd been thinking about before the spar. Should he really do it? Should he really ask Kenshin out?

He spun the tip of Bloodthirst's point in tight circles a number of times as he tried to think of an answer. Except nothing came, his head an incoherent buzz that wouldn't settle on anything.

He'd thought that he should confess to Kenshin, but now that he was about to do it...

"Fox?"

Arctic Fox blinked, turning his head to look at Kenshin. There was a small quirk of an eyebrow that easily conveyed Kenshin's question.

And now that Kenshin knew there was something bothering him, Arctic Fox didn't want to back away. Squaring his shoulders, he turned so that his entire body was facing Kenshin.

Kenshin's reaction to that was to flick his eyes down for a second and then back up, but he didn't move. Arctic Fox realised he might have looked like he was preparing to attack Kenshin again (which could work if he was able to surprise Kenshin, but he was never able to do that) so he dismissed Bloodthirst. Which left him with nothing to do with his hands, so he started to curl his fingers over and over again, wanting to shift his weight from foot to foot.

What did he want to say? That he liked Kenshin and did he want to go out with him.

...

Did he have to say anything else? No.

Making sure he was staring at Kenshin's face, Arctic Fox said, "I like you; do you want to go out?"

Kenshin slowly blinked. Then looked around at the open space around them, a slight crease in between his eyebrows.

That - had not been what Arctic Fox had been expecting, and he closed his eyes, a small sigh escaping him. So he had to be more direct.

But how else did you ask? Now that he'd said the words, Arctic Fox's mind refused to come up with any other way of asking the question.

"…A date?" There was something in Kenshin's tone that made Arctic Fox open his eyes. There was definite amusement in Kenshin's eyes, the hint of a smile on his lips.

Oh, so he didn't have to explain it. "Yeah."

Kenshin's smile widened so that the other side of his lips curled. "Sunshine and Fairsky?"

It took a second for Arctic Fox to place the names to the players: the white-haired mage and the thief. Arctic Fox _grimaced_. Ugh. No, not like them. They probably went on candle-lit dinners and other things Arctic Fox didn't want to think about on their dates.

"Where?"

Arctic Fox's brain blanked as he stared at Kenshin. He hadn't thought about what would happen after he'd confessed, or what they'd do. He frowned as he thought it over.

He enjoyed the time they spent together sparring, drinking at the tavern. Apart from that, there wasn't really anything else he wanted to do with Kenshin. Because that was exactly what he wanted with Kenshin; he was happiest when he was doing that – nothing else would make him happier.

But then, what did that mean? He didn't actually want to go out with Kenshin? But he was sure he did... There was no-one else he wanted to spend time with (Kenshin was the only person he spent with, honestly) so didn't that mean...?

If Kenshin had been anyone else, Arctic Fox was sure he would have been outright laughing by now. Seeing as Kenshin wasn't anyone else, he wasn't laughing, but Arctic Fox could still read the small twitches of his lips all the same.

He was definitely missing something. He frowned.

Kenshin's slightly raised eyebrows said, 'Anything else?' but there wasn't anything else he could think of.

With a small shrug, Kenshin started heading back to Infinite City.

Arctic Fox stared after Kenshin for a second before following; there hadn't been any glaring or any of Kenshin's usual warning signs if he wanted the other person to go away. Kenshin hadn't accepted, but he hadn't rejected him either. Arctic Fox was still puzzling it out as they walked the familiar route to the tavern when the white-haired mage came into view.

"Kenshin!" Sunshine exclaimed as he waved as he jogged over. Kenshin nodded to him in return and Arctic Fox still couldn't help that small twist of jealousy of Kenshin acknowledging someone else. That was when Sunshine whirled on Arctic Fox, leaning in close, peering at him. "Are you Kenshin's boyfriend?"

Arctic Fox's brain BSOD'd. Wait, he hadn't accepted (he hadn't rejected either) – when had -

Kenshin nodded.

Somehow, the mage's smile got even wider. Whatever he was going to say though, was cut short at the familiar yell of the thief. Grinning, Sunshine waved at them in goodbye and ran off.

Arctic Fox stared at Kenshin. "Boyfriend." He'd accepted? He hadn't read that in Kenshin's body language…

A one-shouldered shrug. "Sunshine's words."

There was something strange about that, but Arctic Fox couldn't place exactly what it was. And when had they talked to each other though? Oh, of course. "PM?"

Kenshin's face changed just then, his whole body stilling for a second. Frowning, Kenshin changed direction, no longer aiming for the tavern.

The two loudest thoughts in Arctic Fox's head as he followed Kenshin was the fact that Kenshin had accepted, and why PMs were such a big deal. Arctic Fox had never tried to PM him before (it was cheating if the person you were looking for could tell you exactly where they were) so why did it matter?

They ended up at one of the parks, in a secluded area that didn't have any trees around them and they could see anyone coming towards them on all sides.

Turning back to him, Kenshin didn't say anything for a few seconds. "I'm an NPC."

Arctic Fox blinked, not expecting that answer. Kenshin was an NPC? But that didn't make any sense; he didn't act like any of the other NPCs. But…that would explain how Kenshin was always online whenever he went on.

Hm. "Okay." It didn't make any difference to him – Kenshin was still Kenshin, no matter what he was. He'd been an NPC the whole time Arctic Fox had known him.

Kenshin studied him, his eyebrows drawn in slightly.

"Drink?" Arctic Fox asked him, but in his head, the word translated itself into 'date' and that was what they'd been doing all this time, wasn't it? They'd been dating already, and Arctic Fox hadn't realised it.

He got a slow blink for that, before Kenshin's lips curved up into a smile, and he nodded.

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><p>*pokes Arctic Fox's characterisationvoice* Hmmmm.

Aaaaaaaaaaah, finally got to use Kenshin's nickname for Arctic Fox! \o/

…I kept having to cut back the dialogue because…yeah, it's these two characters, pfft.

Apparently my headcanon for this is after Fairsky confessed to Sunshine and they started doing all the twirly stuff whenever they got within a certain proximity of each other, Kenshin asked about their sudden change in behaviour. After Sunshine explained what happened and had been said, Kenshin thought about it for a second, realised he felt the same way about Arctic Fox and then just…never told Arctic Fox. *dies*

I spent a fair bit of time staring at the first half of the fic going, 'This is so much like Inappropriate, what' and it _really bothered_me until I reconciled with myself that they're similar because I have a tendency to like the same kind of characters. XD;;

So, next aim: write 'Arctic Fox confesses after V6C5/chapter 50.' XDDD


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